State Tournament Game Blog: Benilde-St. Margarets vs Como Park

FIRST HALF

First of all, the always fun Benilde-St. Margaret's fans are on spring break so they have a student section that I counted to be 27 deep. They do have a nice following in the parent section….BSM out to a 10-2 lead fast behind five field goals from D-1 players Armond Battle and Jordan Taylor…Taylor has really got off the ground for some rebounds and I guess his vertical is something I had never really noticed…Taylor out-muscles the much slimmer Como guard for a put-back and its 17-6 Red Knights as Jordan has four early field goals…

Greg Morse has to sit down with two fouls already and the Red Knights have done a good job on him with Armond Battle. Morse's charge call was taken by a Red Knight in perfect position to get the call…Como's Lewis Johnson has scored twice and then dished out an assist to make this a 19-13 game. They need Johnson to use his size for production and that is what has brought them back…

Battle's long arms extend to get a tip-in…Great ball reversal from inside out to Battle then to Jordan for three and its 24-13. Jordan's stroke is excellent right now and he's been hot from the field for weeks…The BSM lead is starting to evaporate and Johnson just dominates the Red Knight defender with a strong spin move and Steven Baker is asserting himself now with three field goals…24-19…Battle misses two free throws and he must have watched the Cooper-Burnsville game close…

Como back in this thing and they are beating the Red Knights on the glass. There was little effort from the Red Knights right there while Johnson went all out to get the board and finish. Lewis has 11 already and it's a 24-21 game…Oh-oh, Jordan Taylor picked up foul number three and Baker hits some free throws and its 26-23 with 81 seconds left in the half…Now Jordan Jackson goes baseline for Como and it's a one point game. There was no help from the Red Knights right there as some weren't even looking at the ball…After Como ties the game Matt Thomas hits a big jumper at the buzzer to give BSM the halftime lead…28-26…

SECOND HALF

Spin move and lay-in from Taylor in transition plus the bucket from Stuart Neville gives the Red Knights a 33-26 advantage…Taylor has now scored five straight points and he's taken almost all the shots here in the second half looking to assert himself…Taylor comes off a screen to square up and hit a three-pointer. That bucket was followed by a Baker lay-in but Jordan gets the ball out fast and pushes in transition finding Battle for a lay-up. Como turns it over and Jordan again pushes ahead to Armond for a lay-up which turns into a three-point play…

Lewis Jackson continues to fight on the block for Como but he can't do everything and BSM continues to score at will. Taylor makes free throws and its 48-34 four minutes after the break...Now Taylor hits another three-pointer and Taylor has decided to take this game over plain and simple…Now Jordan drives hard down the lane cupping the basketball and he finishes with a touch at the rim. The fans of BSM are shouting "MR BASKETBALL" at this guy sitting next to me…Jordan has 28 now for the game and 15 in five minutes of second half play…

Now Taylor hits a pull-up jumper in mid-lane and we are watching something special here…However, the Red Knights are not pulling away because they can't stop Baker or Johnson of Como…These teams are playing no defense as its bucket after bucket. Battle puts the ball on the floor and slashes using a nice first step to score then he powers a bucket home on the next possession and Como is letting BSM score faster then I can type…Battle and Taylor have 45 of the 60 BSM points while Baker and Johnson have 41 of Como's 49…60-49 BSM…

Nobody is stopping the basketball and Jordan slashes through everybody for another lay-up and his 30th point…Greg Morse finally gets field goal number two as Armond Battle has taken him out of the game for the most part. And while Armond is playing defense nobody else is stopping Como and it's a six point game at 64-58…Steven Baker is the guy producing points for Como. This senior is an athletic slasher who is scoring in every which way…65-58 with four minutes to go, BSM ahead…

Some of these fouls are getting extremely touchy…We continue to go Baker scores, Taylor scores as Baker gets a lay-in which was topped by Jordan Taylor making four more free throws. Jordan is a point from scoring 40 and his team is only up 70-60…Taylor goes over 40 with more free throws…BSM scores more free throws…Taylor finishes with 43 points and the Red Knights win 76-62…

POSTGAME

Jordan hit five three-pointers, made 11 of 21 shot attempts, and 16 of 18 free throws for 43 points. He also totaled seven rebounds, four assists, and a pair of steals. Battle scored 21 points on nine of 16 shooting with nine rebounds and six blocks. Armond also held Greg Morse of Como to two of eight shooting and four points.

For Como Park Steven Baker scored 29 points with a nice game from the field. He made 12 of 21 shot attempts including a pair of three-pointers. Lewis Johnson made eight of 11 shots including seven of nine free throws for 21 points. He also recorded 13 boards and five assists.